Land And Settlements


 6.

L AND
 &
S ETTLEMENTS

 
  
Background

 Since 1967, all Israeli governments have pursued an expansionist settlement policy. The first settlement, Kfar Etzion, was established near Bethlehem in late 1967; by the end of 1968 there were some 30 settlements, housing about 5,000 settlers, mostly in the eastern West Bank. In the 1970s, the official policy followed the plan of Yigal Allon, head of the Ministerial Committee for Settlements, and in 1977, when Likud came to power, the focus shifted to the western areas in the West Bank. With the signing of the Oslo Accords the Palestinians agreed to defer all difficult issues, incl. settlements, to a later stage in exchange for an Israeli commitment to disengage from the OPT and preserve the territorial integrity of the WBGS. This, although the Oslo Accords include a broad range of protective measures for the settlements and settlers – such as their exclusion from Palestinian jurisdiction, blanket limitations on Palestinian land use near settlements as well as Israeli control over land registration, zoning and security. Israel has continued to take unilateral actions, all of which are aimed at creating more irreversible facts on the ground in violation of international law. Settlements, under the protection of the Israeli army, take up land for housing, roads, infrastructure and cultivation, as well as water. Settlements breach international law (e.g., Art. 49(6) of the Fourth Geneva Convention states: “The Occupying Power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies”) and various UNSC resolutions (e.g., Res. 465 of 1 March 1980 calling on Israel “to dismantle the existing settlements and in particular to cease, on an urgent basis, the establishment, construction and planning of settlements in the Arab territories occupied since 1967, including Jerusalem”). Likewise, the Road Map of 30 April 2003 called for the “freezing” of all settlement expansion, including natural growth of settlements. However, fact is that despite the commitments under the Road Map and at Annapolis, Israeli settlements continue to expand and very few outposts have been removed. The Palestinian position remains that Israeli settlements are illegal, threaten the viability of a two-state solution and therefore must be evacuated, incl. those in East Jerusalem.

 
Settler
Population

 • The Israeli CBS records 282,500 “Israelis” in ”Jewish localities” in the West Bank (in the first half of 2008, excl.

Jerusalem), the PCBS counts a total of 475,760 settlers (2007), and OCHA 450,000.

• According to the Israeli CBS, the settlers’ annual growth rate was 5.8% in 2007 (as opposed to the general Israeli

growth rate of only 1.8%) and 4.6% in the first half of 2008.

• The settler population is equivalent to 3.85% of Israel’s total population, or 5.1% of Israel’s Jewish population. • 3% of immigrants to Israel settle in the West Bank and 19% settle in Jerusalem (East & West) (Ha’aretz, 25 Feb. 2008). • The separation barrier effectively incorporates over 414,000 illegal settlers i.e., keeps them west of the wall. (PLO-NAD, Barrier to Peace: Assessment of Israel’s Wall Route, July 2008).

Growth of Israel's Settler Population (excl. East Jerusalem)

282,500

300,000 250,000 200,000

203,000

Oslo 114,900

66,300

32,600

150,000 100,000 50,000 2008

2007

2006

2005

2004

2003

2002

2001

2000

1999

1998

1997

1996

1995

1994

1993

1992

1991

1990

1989

1988

1987

1986

1985

1984

1983

1982

1972

0

(Source: Israeli Ministry of Interior, and Israeli CBS.) • The PCBS put the total settler population in 2006 at 475,760, 259,712 of which in the Jerusalem Governorate (and

201,239 of those within Israel’s municipal boundaries). Accordingly, settlers make up 16.1% of the total population living in the West Bank. (PCBS, Statistical Report about Israeli Settlements, 2007).

353

 
Settlements
&
Outposts

 • As of Nov. 2008, Peace Now counted 120 official settlements (267,500 settlers) and 100 unauthorized outposts (~3,000 settlers) in the West Bank, excl. East Jerusalem, where another 180,000 settlers live. At least 50 of the outposts were built after March 2001 (as part of the Road Map, and later in a letter of commitment to US Pres. Bush, Israel committed to remove all outposts that were established during the Sharon govt.). 80.25% of the settlements and outposts are located (fully or partially) on private Palestinian land (http://www.peacenow.org.il). • The Israeli CBS records 119 settlements, PCBS figures put their number at 144 (incl. 26 in East Jerusalem), while OCHA counts 149 settlements. (PCBS, Statistical Report about Israeli Settlements, 2007, Statistical Abstract of Israel, 2006). • By March 2008, there was construction or development in 58 outposts, at least 16 new permanent structures were constructed in seven outposts, at least 38 new mobile structures has been added, and 53 structures were expanded. In addition, at least 184 new caravans were placed in settlements, 82% of them in settlements located east of the separation barrier. (Peace Now, The Death of the Settlement Freeze - 4 Months Since Annapolis, March 2008).

Establishment of Settlements (excl. East Jerusalem) since 1967 (Source: Israeli Ministry of Interior, Israeli CBS.)

• In mid-July 2008, the Israeli Defense Minister approved a plan, frozen in early 2007 after strong local and international criticism, to turn the Maskiyot military outpost in the Jordan Valley (established in the 1980s but long-deserted) into a new permanent civilian settlement. Currently, there are 9 illegal outposts in the Jordan Valley and according to CBS numbers some 9,358 settlers house in 27 settlements, 15 of which have a population of less than 200. In comparison, there are over 53,000 Palestinians in the region (incl. 35,000 in the Jericho area). Besides Palestinian built-up areas, of all the Jordan Valley land is placed under the jurisdiction of the settlement regional councils and thus off-limits to the Palestinians. In addition, in the first quarter of 2008, 86% of the demolitions in Area C due to lack of permit took place were in the Jordan Valley. (Peace Now. A New Jordan Valley Settlement – Facts, Background, and Analysis, Oct. 2008). • At the beginning of March the Interior Minister approved the turning of the Modi’in Illit Local Council into a city. •

 
Housing
Starts
&
Ongoing
 Construction

 • As of July 2008, construction was ongoing in 604 buildings in West Bank settlements, tenders for 2,481 housing units had been issued, and 184 mobile homes had been erected (FMEP, Report on Israeli Settlement, July-August 2008). • In 2007, the Israeli Housing and Construction Ministry began work on 478 new housing units in the West Bank and completed 1,429. New housing sales in Israel increased nationally by 1.6% in 2007, while sales in the West Bank decreased by 8.1%. A total of 13,576 new apartments built by the private construction sector were sold in 2007, 2.7% of which in West Bank settlements. (FMEP, Report on Israeli Settlement in the Occupied Territories, March-April 2008) • Since the Nov. 2007 Annapolis Conference and June 2008 alone, Israel has announced new tenders and plans in settlements, which amounted to a total of 29,353 housing units (ARIJ, 1,300 New Israeli Housing Units to be built in Jerusalem, 2 July 2008).

354

• According to Peace Now over 2,600 housing units are under construction in West Bank settlements in the first half of 2008, 55% of which in settlements east of the separation fence. in The number of tenders for construction in settlements increased by 550% from 65 in 2007 to 417 housing units in addition to 125 new buildings at outposts. • CBS data shows that between Jan.-May 2008 there was construction on 433 housing units in settlements (compared to 240 during the same period last year). Housing and Construction Ministry projects account for 64% of all building starts cataloged. (Ha’aretz, Peace Now: West Bank settlement construction nearly doubled this year, 26 Aug. 2008) • Figures from the Israeli Civil Admin. show that between 2000 and Sept. 2007, only 5.5% of Palestinian requests for building permits in Area C were approved (or 105 out of 1,890 applications). Forced to build without license, Palestinian construction became subject to house demolition: in the same period, 4,820 demolition orders were issues, 1,626 of which were executed. While Palestinians were denied building permits in Area C, Israeli settlements were granted them at an annual rate of 1,000 or a total of 6,945 between 2000-2006 (as compared to 95 permits for Palestinians in the same period!). (ARIJ. Israeli Policies in Area C: Silent Transfer of the Palestinian People, Oct. 2008.) • In May 2008, Ma’ariv reported that housing sales in West Bank settlements dropped by 57% in the last year. • In recent years the trend has accelerated to eliminate the Green Line through intensive construction intended to create a territorial connection between the blocks of settlements and isolated settlements in the heart of the West Bank.

Housing Completions initiated by the Israeli Ministry of Housing in Settlements, excl. Jerusalem 4237

4500 4000 3500

2785

3000

2330

2500 2000

1433 1495

1500 1000 500

324

564

801

1082

1139

1429

1259 1147

1511 1161

491

858

1180 763

0 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 Labor-Likud (Unity) Govt.

Shamir (Likud) Govt.

Rabin (Labor) Govt.

 
Land
&
Land
Confiscation




Netanyahu (Likud) Govt.

Barak (Labor) Sharon Govt. (Unity) Govt.

Olmert (Unity) Govt.

1 dunum = ¼ acre or 1000 m2

• Before the War of 1948, Palestinians owned about 87.5% of the total area of Palestine (26,323,000 dunums or 26,323

km2), while Jews owned 6.6% of the total lands. The remaining 5.9% was ‘state land’ as classified by the British Mandate. (British Government, A Survey of Palestine, 1945-1946).

• Since June 1967, the Israeli occupation authorities have expropriated some 79% of the WBGS territory. Of these areas, some 44% were taken for ‘military purposes’, 20% for ‘security’ reasons, 12% for ‘public use’ (e.g., ‘Green Areas’), and 12% because the owners were ‘absent’. • The status of settlement lands is complicated. In the West Bank, only about 30% of the land is registered (since land registration ceased completely following Israel’s occupation in 1967) and Israel declared all unregistered and noncultivated land as “State land” in the 1980 – subsequently using it to create Israeli settlements. (The World Bank, Palestinian Economic Prospects: Aid, Access and Reform. Sept. 2008.) • In mid-2007, Peace Now reported that West Bank settlements use only 12% of the huge amounts of land allocated to them, of which only 9% is built on. Despite those huge unused land reserves, 90% of the settlements exceeded their boundaries, and about one-third of the territory they use is adjacent Palestinian lands outside their jurisdiction. While the Civil Administration prevents Palestinians from building in areas under settler jurisdiction, it takes virtually no legal action against illegal settler construction. (Ha’aretz, 7 July 2007) • The built-up area of the West Bank settlements covers only 52,000 dunums (1.5% of Area C), but their jurisdictions cover over half a million dunums (5.1% of the entire West Bank). Another 23% of the West Bank is restricted to Palestinians by order of the Military Commander of the West Bank comprising: closed military areas and bases, and Israeli declared natural reserves (with some overlap between the two). A further 10.2% of the West Bank, including 42 Palestinian villages, will be enveloped by the most recent route of the separation barrier. The enclosed areas include valuable agricultural land and substantial water resources. (The World Bank. Palestinian Economic Prospects: Aid, Access and Reform. Sept. 2008.)

355

356

Settlements in the West Bank, 2006 Name

Pop. *

Adora 220 Alei Zahav 723 Alfei Menashe 5,826 Allon Shevut 3,330 Almog 192 Almon 808 Argaman 166 Ariel 16,432 Asfar (Metzad) 257 Ateret 406 Avnei Hefetz 1,247 Barkan 1,257 Bat Ayin 866 Bet Arye 3,502 Bet El 5,163 Bet Ha'Arava 87 Bet Horon 900 Betar 'Illit 29,126 Beqa'ot 171 Bracha 1,182 Carmel 357 Chemdat 147 Dolev 1,100 Efrat 7,714 El'azar 1,314 Eli 2,530 Elkana 2,968 Elon Moreh 1,314 Emmanuel 2,678 Enav 571 Eshkolot 225 Etz Efrayim 679 Geva Binyamin (Adam) 3,183 Gilgal 162 Gittit 214 Giv'at Ze'ev 10,796 Giv'on HaHadasha 1,181 Haggai (Bet Haggai) 477 Hallamish 975 Hamra 132 Har Adar 2,438 Har Gilo 415 Hashmona'im 2,359 Hebron Old City 400 Hemdat (Nahal) 120 Hermesh 202 Hinnanit 779 Itamar 698 Kalya 266 Karmei Zur 696 Karnei Shomron 6,333 Kedar 782 Kedumim 3,208 Kfar Adumim 2,312 Kfar Etzion 448 Kfar Ha’Oranim (Menora) 1,917 Kfar Tapuah 721 Kiryat Arba' 6,958 Kiryat Netafim 472 Kokhav Ha’Shahar 1,530 Kokhav Ya'acov 5,268 Ma'ale Adumim 31,754 Ma'ale Amos 344 Ma'ale Efrayim 1,384 Ma’ale Levona 556 Ma'ale Mikhmas 1,184 Ma'ale Shomron 570 Ma'on 370 Massu'a 142 Mattityahu 1,355 Mehola 351 Mekhora 114

Establ.

Area

1983 1982 1983 1970 1977 1982 1968 1978 1984 1981 N/A 1981 1989 1981 1977 1980 1977 1985 1972 1982 1981 1997 1983 1980 1975 1984 1977 1979 1982 1981 1982 1985 1983 1970 1973 1982 1980 1984 1977 1971 1986 1972 1985 1968 1980 1982 1981 1984 1968 1984 1978 1984 1975 1979 1967 1998 1978 1972 1982 1977 1984 1975 1981 1970 1983 1981 1980 1981 1970 1981 1968 1973

Hebron Tulkarem Tulkarem Bethlehem Jericho Ramallah Jericho Tulkarem Hebron Ramallah Tulkarem Tulkarem Bethlehem Ramallah Ramallah Jericho Ramallah Bethlehem Jericho Nablus Hebron Jericho Ramallah Bethlehem Bethlehem Nablus Tulkarem Nablus Tulkarem Tulkarem Hebron Tulkarem Ramallah Jericho Jericho Ramallah Ramallah Hebron Ramallah Jericho Ramallah Bethlehem Ramallah Hebron Jericho Jenin Jenin Nablus Jericho Hebron Tulkarem Bethlehem Tulkarem Ramallah Bethlehem Ramallah Tulkarem Hebron Tulkarem Ramallah Ramallah Bethlehem Bethlehem Jericho Ramallah Ramallah Tulkarem Hebron Jericho Ramallah Jericho Jericho

Name

Pop. *

Establ.

Area

Mevo Dotan 311 1978 Jenin Mevo Horon 1,037 1970 Ramallah Mezadot Yehuda 462 1980 Hebron Migdal Oz 345 1977 Bethlehem Migdalim 142 1984 Nablus Mitzpe Shalem 169 1971 Jericho Mitzpe Yericho 1,641 1978 Jericho Modi'in Illit 34,482 1981 Ramallah Na'aleh 655 1988 Ramallah Na’ameh 129 1982 Jericho Nahaliel 278 1984 Ramallah Negohot 172 1982 Hebron Netiv HaGedud 125 1976 Jericho Neve Daniel 1,609 1982 Bethlehem Nili 886 1981 Ramallah Niran 52 1977 Jericho Nofim 409 1987 Tulkarem Nokdim 782 1982 Bethlehem Ofarim Joined together with Bet Arye in 2004 Ofra 2,531 1975 Ramallah Oranit 5,782 1984 Tulkarem Otni'el 752 1983 Hebron Pedu'el 1,116 1984 Tulkarem Peza'el 214 1975 Jericho Pnei Hever 392 1982 Hebron Psagot 1,489 1981 Ramallah Rehan 153 1977 Jenin Revava 909 1991 Nablus Rimonim 565 1977 Ramallah Ro'i 128 1976 Jericho Rosh Zurim 422 1969 Bethlehem Rotem 18 2001 Jericho Sal'it 429 1977 Tulkarem Sha'arei Tikva 3,773 1982 Tulkarem Shadmot Mehola 536 1978 Jericho Shaked 536 1981 Jenin Shani (Livne) 416 1989 Hebron Shavei Shomron 631 1977 Nablus Shilo 2,068 1979 Ramallah Shim'a 368 1985 Hebron Susiya 737 1983 Hebron Talmon 2,135 1989 Ramallah Tekoa 1,343 1977 Bethlehem Telem 167 1981 Hebron Tene (Ma’ale Omarim) 650 1983 Hebron Tomer 282 1978 Jericho Tzofim 1,082 1989 Tulkarem Vered Yericho 180 1980 Jericho Yafit 104 1980 Jericho Yakir 1,025 1981 Tulkarem Yitav 175 1970 Jericho Yizhar 673 1983 Nablus Total: 123 settlements

263,837

In addition there are:

Families

Establ.

Area

120

1990

Ramallah

11

1997

Bethlehem

150

1992

Ramallah

37

1991

Tulkarem

60

1991

Ramallah

Alon (officially part of Kfar Adumim) Geva’ot (officially part of Allon Shevut) Nofei Prat (officially part of Kfar Adumim) Rehelim (has no official status; nr. Ariel) Shvut Rahel ((officially part of Shilo) Outposts

No. 100 Source: Peace Now, Settlement List:, 2008

357

 
Roads
&
Bypass
Roads

 • Bypass roads circumvent Palestinian towns and villages and link the various Israeli settlements to one another as well as to Israel proper. The main rationale behind these roads is the ‘security’ of the settlers, but they also serve the purpose of dividing the West Bank into isolated ‘bantustans’ and blocking Palestinian development. Bypass roads are under Israeli control and entail a 5075-m buffer zone on each side of the road in which no construction is allowed. • To date, Israel has constructed some 794.79 km of bypass roads in the West Bank. Palestinians are denied access to most of them (often enforced with cement blocks, trenches, earth-mounds, barbwires and iron gates) under the pretext of military and/or security purposes. The largest bypass road networks are in the Ramallah (183 km) and Hebron (132) areas (ARIJ, The Israeli Bypass Road System in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Aug. 2008)

Bypass Roads in Palestinian Governorates 15 10 5 0

7

5

6

8

10

7

4

6

2

1

(Source: ARIJ, GIS database, 2007.)

 
Israeli
Government
Spending

 • Govt. expenditure includes - besides high security costs - low purchase prices, mortgage grants (up to 95% of the cost), Priority ‘A’ categorization (for state-subsidized benefits and incentives such as 7%-tax breaks, free schooling and school busing, and business grants), lost tax revenues. • According to experts' estimates, the total economic cost of the occupation has by now reached more than $50 billion, including security and civilian expenses (the construction and maintenance of the settlements), as well as the potential loss of GDP. The annual average of military expenses on maintaining control over the territory stands at about NIS 2.5 billion. (Avi Shauli, Cost of Occupation, Sept. 2007 http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3410537,00.html). • The civilian cost of the settlements is valued at about NIS 2.5 billion per year. The value of property built in the territories is estimated at over US$14 billion, and the losses in GDP for the Israeli economy due to the recession that followed the second Intifada are estimated at NIS 50 billion. (Ibid.) • The evacuation of some 8,000 settlers from Gaza cost the State of Israel some NIS 8 billion, an average of NIS 1 million per person. The evacuation of the 250,000 West Bank settlers is expected to exceed NIS 250 billion since some of them belong to a higher socioeconomic stratum as was the case with Gaza’s settlers. • According to the Israeli Defense Ministry, the separation barrier will approx. cost a total of NIS 10 billion, whereby each km of costs NIS 15 million and each km of fence NIS 12 million.

 
Israel’s
Separation
Barrier
&
“Seam
Zone”

 • In June 2002 Israel decided to build the separation barrier to prevent the uncontrolled entry of Palestinians from the West Bank into Israel. In fact, the separation barrier is part of a strategy that aims to annex large parts of WBGS land while encircling Palestinian population centers. It is a combination of an 8-m high concrete wall (mainly around East Jerusalem areas), trenches, fences, razor wire and military-only roads. There is also a 30-100-m wide “buffer zone” east of the Wall with electrified fences, trenches, sensors and military patrol roads and some sections have armed sniper towers. The barrier runs through some of the most fertile parts of the West Bank and has severely harmed agricultural activity, which is one of the main sources of income many villages. • On 9 July 2004, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Israel's construction of the barrier was “contrary to international law” as it involves destruction/confiscation of Palestinian property and imposes severe restrictions on Palestinian movement, and that that Israel must “cease forthwith the works of construction of the wall being built in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including in and around East Jerusalem”, return seized property and compensate Palestinian landowners whose interests have been damaged by its construction. The Court's decision emphatically challenges the Israeli rationale for locating most of the barrier in the West Bank instead of in its own territory. The ICJ’s Advisory Opinion was confirmed by UNGA Res. A/RES/ES-10/15 of 20 July 2004. In Dec. 2006, UNGA established UNROD, the UN’s Register of Damage Caused by the Construction of the Wall. Nevertheless, Israel proceeded with the construction. • In April 2007 the Israeli Defense Ministry approved an updated route for the Separation Barrier (see http://seamzone. mod.gov.il/Pages/ENG/map_eng.htm), which, upon completion, will effectively annex 12% of the West Bank (previously:

358

9.0%). At least 80% of the revised route still runs inside the West Bank and East Jerusalem, isolating communities and separating tens of thousands of people from services, their lands and livelihoods. • Israel has declared the land in between the route of the barrier itself and the Green Line – now referred to as the "seam zone" - a "closed area" for an indefinite period of time pursuant to occupation military orders. Palestinians aged 16 and above who find themselves residents of the "seam zone" are required to apply for a "permanent resident ID" from the Civil Administration in order to seek permission to remain in their homes and also require permits to access their property, work or fields west of the wall through designated gates, which tend to be open for only a few hours a day and can be closed by the army without prior warning. No vehicles are allowed through and heavy restrictions apply with regard to agricultural equipment and materials. (World Bank. Movement and Access Restrictions in the West Bank: Uncertainty and Inefficiency in the Palestinian Economy. May 2007; ILO, The Situation of Workers of the Occupied Arab Territories. May 2008). • Less than 20% of the separation barrier’s route lies on the Green Line, while approx. 9.5% of West Bank land as well as East Jerusalem fall in the “seam zone” between the Barrier and the Green Line, and will thus be isolated from the rest of the West Bank. Over 80% of Israeli settlers will be incorporated in the same area and will thus be connected to Israel (ILO, The Situation of Workers of the Occupied Arab Territories. International Labor Conference, May 2008.) • Once completed, approx. 35,000 Palestinians will live between the Green Line and the barrier, and another 26,000 in eight communities will be surrounded on four sides by the barrier, with a tunnel or road connection to the rest of the West Bank. Nearly a quarter of a million residents of East Jerusalem will be cut off from the rest of the West Bank. (The World Bank, Palestinian Economic Prospects: Aid, Access and Reform. Sept. 2008.) • With the separation barrier route (de facto annexing 9% of the West Bank), settlements east of the barrier (de facto annexing an additional 8.0%) and Israel’s de facto annexation of the Jordan Valley (28.5%), Israel controls 45.5% of the West Bank, leaving Palestinians with only 54% or 12% of historic Palestine (PLO – NAD. Barrier to Peace: Assessment of Israel’s Wall Route, July 2008). • Of the 275,200 settlers in the West Bank in 2007, some 65,406 were located east and 209,794 west of the separation barrier. (Peace Now, 2008) • The Wall route effectively incorporates over 414,000 settlers (=88% of all settlers), and will de facto annex the Givon, Adumim, and Etzion settlement blocs. (PLO-NAD. Barrier to Peace: Assessment of Israel’s Wall Route, July 2008). • As part of its “Special Security Area” (SSA) plan, Israel surrounded 12 settlements east of the separation barrier with rings of land that are closed to Palestinian entry, although more than half of that land is privately-owned by Palestinians. By this, the overall area of these settlements increased by 2.4 times from 3,325 to 7,793 dunums. (B’Tselem, Access Denied: Israeli measures to deny Palestinians access to land around settlements. Sept. 2008.) • As of June 2008, the separation barrier passed through 171 West Bank localities (affecting some 712,313 people) and has so far resulted in the confiscation of 49,291 dunums of land, the isolation of another 274,607 dunums, and the displacement of some 3,880 households (27,841 people). (PCBS, Survey on the Impact of the Expansion and Annexation Wall on the Socio-Economic Conditions of Palestinian Localities where the Wall Passes Through, June 2008) • The number of closure obstacles reported by OCHA rose from 566 in Sept. 2007 to 609 in May 2008 (not incl. checkpoints placed on the Green Line, flying checkpoints and the Barrier.)

The Separation Barrier at a Glance 900 Upon 800 Completion 790 km 40 km wall & 700 750 km fence 600 500 340 km 400 300 200 100 0 Total Barrier

of which on the Green Line

Current Status

474 km 237 km 79 km

Completed

Under construction

Planned (Source: Now.)

Peace

 
The
Occupied
Palestinian
Territories

 Total Area of Palestinian Governorates (in km2) Governorate Jenin Tubas Tulkarm Qalqilya Salfit Nablus Ramallah Jerusalem1 Jericho

Total Area 583 402 246 166 204 605 855 345 593

Governorate Hebron Total WB North Gaza Gaza Deir Balah Khan Younis Rafah Total Gaza

Total Area 997 5,655 61 74 58 108 64 365

359

Bethlehem

659

(Source: PCBS, Land Use Statistics.)

TOTAL WBGS 1

6,020

excl. the annexed part.

West Bank Areas A, B, C:

The 1995 Oslo II Agreement created, as an interim (5-year) measure, three distinct zones Areas A, B, and C, with different security and administrative arrangements. The current status is frozen at the levels of the 1999 Sharm El-Sheikh summit:

Oslo II, 1995

Wye River, 1998

Sharm El-Sheikh, 1999

The territorial space of Areas A and B is not contiguous, and consists of some 227 enclaves.

Area 'A': full Palestinian control; mainly urban areas (cities &towns). Area 'B': Palestinian civil and Israeli security control; mainly populated rural areas. Area ‘C’: full Israeli control; settlements, settlement access roads, buffer zones (near settlements, roads, strategic areas and Israel) and almost all of the Jordan Valley. Area C holds 63% of the West Bank’s agricultural lands !

Recommended
Research
Sources:
 http://www.arij.org, http://www.arij.org/paleye/ http://www.stopthewall.org/ (Palestinian campaign against the wall) http://www.peacenow.org/ (American Peace Now) http://www.btselem.org/English/Settlements/

http://www.fmep.org/ (Settlement Report) http://www.ochaopt.org http://www.peacenow.org.il/

Access Denied: Israeli Measures to Deny Palestinians Access to Land around Settlements. Jerusalem: B’Tselem, Sept. 2008. ARIJ. An Analysis of the Recent Geopolitical Situation in Gaza Strip. Sept. 2003. Behind The Barrier: Human Rights Violations As a Result of Israel's Separation Barrier. Position Paper. Jerusalem: B’Tselem, April 2003. B’Tselem, Access Denied: Israeli measures to deny Palestinians access to land around settlements. Sept. 2008. Ideological Settlement in the West Bank: Areas of Exclusion Enforced Upon the Palestinian Population. Ramallah: PALDIS-LCD, July 2002. Foundation for Middle East Peace. Report on Israeli Settlement in the Occupied Territories. (online: http://www.fmep.org). Matar, Ibrahim. Jewish Settlements, Palestinian Rights, and Peace. Washington, DC: Center for Policy Analysis on Palestine, 1996. PASSIA. Settlements - Special Bulletin. Jerusalem, March 2001. (available at www.passia.org). PLO Negotiations, Affairs Department. Israeli Settlement Activity since Annapolis. May 2008. PLO Negotiations, Affairs Department. The Business of Colonization. Background Brief, October 2008. Shehadeh, Raja. The Law of the Land. Settlement and Land Issues under Israeli Military Occupation. Jerusalem: PASSIA, 1993. UN Ocha, regular situation reports on access, closure and the separation barrier. Yesh Din, A Semblance of Law - Law Enforcement upon Israeli Civilians in the West Bank, June 2006.

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